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GENESEO - Franklin Dean Gustus, 80, died Jan. 7 at Sandstone Heights Nursing Home, Little River. He was born July 17, 1933 at Geneseo, the son of Cyril and Olive Roby Gustus. He was a lifetime Geneseo resident.

Widespread activity was reported in 25 states last week, including Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Missouri and Iowa reported regional outbreaks according to the CDC's weekly flu advisory report, covering the week ending Dec. 28.

Despite what some called "Obama's worst year ever" and what everyone agreed was terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Obamacare rollout, Barack Obama's job approval rating has bounced back out of the 30s and into the mid-40s-not great, but neither the inexorable slide into oblivion that many predicted. Once again, the reports of Obama's political death have been greatly exaggerated, begging the question as to why pundits seem so eager to pronounce his last rites.

ELLINWOOD - Cheryl L. Whiting, 52, died Jan. 5 at Via Christi St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Wichita. Born Feb. 6, 1961, she was the daughter of Robert C. and Janice (Luft) Brandt. On Nov. 11, 1978, she married Terry C. Whiting in Great Bend. He died Sept. 5, 2010. A resident of Ellinwood since 1978, coming from Great Bend, she was a homemaker.

LARNED – Lawrence Schneck Jr., 83, died Jan. 3, in Wichita. Born Oct. 7, 1930, in Larned, he was the son of Lawrence I. and Lydia Schultz Schneck. On Aug. 18, 1949, he married Janice H. Younkin. She predeceased him in 2012. He was a farmer for more than 40 years.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In many ways, it was a dream, going from 2-14 and the first overall pick in the NFL draft to 11-5 and a spot in the playoffs. Yet it ended in just about the most nightmarish way possible, a second-half collapse and another round of postseason heartache.

HAYS - Vickie J. Cole, 67, passed away Jan. 2, at Hays Medical Center. Born May 12, 1946, in Great Bend, she was the daughter of Donald A. and Dorothy (Rinker) Bowsher Sr. On July 3, 1966, she married Tom O. Cole in Great Bend.

ANDOVER - Ernest "E.B."Shawver II, 88, loving husband and father, World War II Army veteran, rancher, oilman, philanthropist and conservationist, passed away on Jan. 1 at his home. Born on May 6, 1925, in Wichita, he was the son of Ernest Blaine and Stella Mae (Barr) Shawver. E.B. married Bettie (Cocking) Cordes in 1946 and they were later divorced. He married Virginia (Ferrell) Oetken on June 13, 1986 in Butler County.